Ice cream makers

Long before the invention of electric ice cream makers, making ice cream was a lengthy and tiring process as it was mixed, frozen and mixed again.

But along came an American invention designed to make the process a little more simplified. Using a wooden churn the hand-crank maker contained a galvanised vessel with paddles turned by a handle. It owed its design to the old butter churns and was one of a number of early and mid-century kitchen gadgets on offer to American housewives keen to have labour-saving kitchens.

All the brands had ice-related names like Alaska, Frost King, Polar Bear and White Mountain, although the latter appeared to be the brand of choice. Few of them made it across the Atlantic.

By the sixties, one or two manufacturers had tried adding motors and others substituted the traditional wooden churn with a plastic bucket.

This churning principle seems to be evident in contemporary ice cream machines, but the magic is hidden beneath layers of plastic and perspex.

Scroll through our gallery for a closer look.